It lives....

Ok so.  I’m dipping my toe back into the blogging world.  I’m not announcing it official like because we all know I have a track record of not being the most diligent person in the world when it comes to this thing.  But here’s the thing: my memory is really bad.  Like epically bad.  I don’t really see this getting any better with time, and the blog is a bit handier than having to track down KK and ask her questions like ‘what was the name of that dude that lived down the hall that used to pee in the yoo-hoo bottles when we were freshman.’  Actually, I don’t need KK to remind me of his name because that’s the kind of crap I totally remember.  But the useful stuff day to day stuff?  Forget it.  It’s crowded out by stuff like the afore mentioned pee in the yoo-hoo bottle incident.  Apparently there is limited space in my brain. 

And here’s the other thing:  we’re having a baby.  I know, I know.  Way to bury the lead.  So it appears that I’m going to have lots going on to remember.  I debated on doing a new, sanitized, baby centric blog as opposed to just resurrecting the Halfstreet, but I like the idea of having one place that is the full record.  From living in sin with HSH on the real Halfstreet, to getting married, to moving to a new house (but never really leaving the Halfstreet behind) to adding a kiddo and whatever is beyond.  Is it unrealistic to think I will keep up with the blog when there is a munchkin added to the mix, seeing as how I proved to be not up to the task when the only munchkin involved was the Ripper?  Who knows.  I guess we’ll all find out together.  And by “we’ll” I mean me, and the 2 of you that still use the Halfstreet for my links to other blogs. 

Everything's Coming Up Roses

Yesterday was the big 3-2. And I must say it was a grand day! From the get-go it was like the universe was saying “‘this is going to be a great year!” Consider the evidence:

1. Got in the car on the way to work, and one of my favorite songs in the world was playing (Hangin’ Around: Counting Crows)
2. Got to the office and the very first, front row parking spot was waiting for me, even though others had parked further back
3. Young (cute, not that I was noticing) guy on the elevator held it for me, even though I was barely through the front doors when it arrived
4. When I got to my desk the guy who sits across from me was humming “Birthday” (a la the Beatles) under his breath, which I thought was as much acknowledgement as you can expect when you work with a bunch of dudes, until….
5. One of the brokers I do business with sang Happy Birthday (a la Marilyn Monroe) over the broker box (which is kind of like fancy speaker phone)
6. My lunch involved a cupcake
7. I received emails, texts, phone calls, IM’s and even a couple of home visits from people that I cherish
8. What I thought was going to be a quiet dinner with the HSH turned out to be a gathering of some of my favorite people

Granted, on any given day one or several of the things on this list might occur and I wouldn’t think twice about it. However, yesterday they all combined to make me feel warm and fuzzy and very very lucky. My cup runneth over.

Let's Bring it Down a Notch, Shall We?

I have a friend whose daughter is entering the work force this year. She’s graduated from a great school, worked hard, and did great, and now she’s in a total panic. Long story short: after a few weeks in the “real world” she woke up one day and said ‘really? This is what I have to look forward to for the next 30 or so years?’ All I can say is: Girlfriend, I feel your pain.

This past summer I celebrated my 5 year anniversary with my current employer, and last Thursday they treated a group of us celebrating anniversaries to dinner. Apparently they take you out to dinner when these things happen? I wouldn’t know since I’ve never been anywhere this long before. To put it in perspective: I’ve been in the “real world” for 10 years. I’ve had paychecks from 5 companies. And I’ve been at my current place of employment for half that time. You do the math.

Anyway, I’ve been complaining about my job lately to anyone who will listen. For all my bitching though, for the most part I like it. And I’m grateful for it, before anyone starts down the ‘at least you have a job’ route. Trust me, I’ve been employed and I’ve been unemployed. Employed is better. But every situation has its drawbacks. Sure, there are a few things around here I could do without, but most of those points are counter balanced by the fact that I get to come to work every day and work with some of my really good friends. Oh and they pay me. That’s nice as well. But lets be honest…no 3rd grader gets in front of their class on career day and says “When I grow up I want to be a trader.” It’s not exactly a calling. Sometimes this thought depresses me. Especially when I get my monthly Oprah magazine and the cover screams at me “What's your true calling!” I have no idea what my calling is. And the answer certainly wasn’t in that magazine. Trust me, I looked. This summer/fall has been filled with lots of contemplation on this topic. For every time I think “what if my life’s work is…well….my work? Am I ok with that?” I also think “what a brat.” For 90% of the world, wondering about their true calling is a self indulgent luxury they can’t afford. I’m sure you can tell by now I don’t have any answers yet, mainly just more questions. So far though I’ve found that my happiest days are the ones that I can say at the end of the day: I was a good wife/friend/sister/daughter/aunt today. I don’t know if it’s a calling, but it will do for now.

Ripken knows his true calling: looking cute, and keeping the bed warm.

Hawaii

Hello fans.  What else has been going on, you ask?  Well we went to Hawaii.  I know, I know.  You're thinking: Hawaii?  Do something original, Halfstreet.  But, we were anxious to squeeze in a trip before the Halfstreet brother deployed later this fall, and were blessed to have the stars align at work (finally) which enabled us to get away for a week.  This alone was no small feat, as its been a pretty rough summer at the office.  I'll spare you the details.  Or I'll write about them another time.  Sure.

Anyway, the trip was fabulous.  There are lots of pictures.  I won't bore you with them.  Actually it's more the case that uploading them is a serious pain.  But i'll give you a sampling.

First off: The scenery.

Next up: The activities.

The Halfstreet thought it would be good if we tried to mix in some movement on this vacation.  Yes, movement as opposed to my preferred activity...being still.  Preferably on a beach.  With a book.  And maybe a drink.
So to this end, we took a stand up paddle board lesson (enjoyable) and several hikes (less so).  

If I had to sum up the first hike I would use words like: mud, fall (as in down), pain, hard and mud.  And mud twice more, just for good measure.  Here are some pictures.

Much of the trail looked like this.   

 I'm smiling here, but really this should have been a warning

 Notice the mud on me.  Oh, and the scenery too.

 This is where I fell.  You can kind of see my skid marks at the top of the picture.  It was at this point that I might have said "OK, I'm done."  But the HSH encouraged me to go on.  Thankfully, because the payoff...

...was pretty damn cool.

I didn't participate in the second hike, but thankfully the HSB lent his considerable video skills to the effort so the Halfstreet readers wouldn't miss a thing:

as you can see (at about min 1:15), SIL-E and I had better things to do than go on any more hikes!

Lastly a final picture.  Kind of because it was taken in Hawaii, but mainly because it makes me happy.

Mahalo.

Fall Whatnot

So today I've been doing something I almost never do...look through my old blog posts.  I've come to a couple conclusions:

1. I like it
2. It's a handy reminder of things
3. I'm not very good at updating it

#1 and #2 were more of a revelation.  #3 I pretty much knew and accepted.  Anyway, in light of 1&2, I'm going to make more of an effort.  I have a couple posts in the works (Hawaii trip, secrets of the universe and whatnot...you know the usual) but here is a real quick one that falls under #2. 
It's helpful to me when I post tablescape pictures, so I can remember what I did from year to year.  I always have grand plans of Halloween decorations for the house, but seem to miss the (very short) window to put them up.  Too early is over kill.  Too late, hardly seems worth it to me.  That leaves you with, like, a one weekend window to get it done, which isn't very long for a lazy bones like me.  So this year I opted for a more generic fall feel, which I can leave up till the Christmas stuff comes out.  Bonus.  I'll probably still suplement around the house with some Halloween-y stuff, but this is what we're going with for now.  Sorry about the pictures of poor quality.  They were taken on my new phone.  I was too lazy to get out the real camera.  Are we seeing a theme here?

You Can Call Me Bob

We went and saw Bob Schneider last night at the Mucky Duck.  I've seen him many times and always leave the concerts happier than when I went in.  If I had a happy place, his music would be playing there.  You know what else makes me happy?  His new video.


Bob Schneider - 40 Dogs from Bob Schneider on Vimeo.

Here is a photo from the HSH's fancy-schmancy Iphone.  As you can see, we pretty much had the best seats in the house.  Granted, the "house" is pretty small, but shhhhh...don't tell anyone!

That's Mrs. AMBASSADOR to you, thank you very much

I’ve been a fan of zoos since my parents started taking the HSB and I to the National Zoo when we were wee little tiger cubs. So when NKC started recruiting some of her friends to join a new group of zoo supporters called the Houston Zoo Ambassadors the HSH and I didn’t have to be pressed very hard to sign up. In exchange for our donation we get all sorts of neat perks, like free admission and the opportunity to go to all sorts of unique events. Yesterday we had a planning event in preparation for the Gala that the ambassadors host in January (shameless plug #1: buy your tickets now before they sell out!) and since we were on site anyway, the lovely zoo staff treated us to one of the ‘behind the scenes’ experiences that makes being an ambassador pretty darn cool. This time up, we got to visit Okapi and Bongos that live at the zoo. I’ve thought Okapis are pretty interesting since I first laid eyes on them. They look like you’d be more likely to find them on the pages of a Dr. Seuss book, than in a zoo. The legs of a zebra, the body of a horse, and the head of a giraffe, it is actually most closely related to the giraffe. I didn’t really get that until I saw its insanely long tongue. Long like, he could fix the part in his hair without the aid of a comb. Or hand. Anyway, being so up close and personal to these animals really makes you appreciate them even more.

For you viewing pleasure:

Mr. Okapi (I think he was smiling at me here)

Getting a snack

Bongos...more than just a goofy drum.

…and here comes shameless plug #2: The HSH and I, along with Tripp’s parents, are co-chairs of the recruitment committee for the Houston zoo ambassadors. So if hanging with the Okapi, feeding jaguars, or petting armadillos is your thing then let us know and we’d be happy to tell you about the wondrous place that is the Houston Zoo and all the great things you can do to help support it!